UConn Basketball Recruit Will Jackson Headed To Georgia

PAUL DOYLE, pdoyle@courant.comThe Hartford Courant

Just a week after highly touted point guard Jalen Adams said he will join Kevin Ollie's program, another UConn recruit changed his mind.

Will Jackson, from Athens, Ga., decommitted from UConn and said Monday he will stay home and attend the University of Georgia. Jackson, a 6-foot-4 point guard, had given UConn an oral commitment in February.

But the addition of Adams, one of the nation's best point guards, will give UConn a crowded backcourt. Jackson, who attends Athens Christian School, told Scout.com that he spoke to the UConn staff a "week or two ago."

"They have a lot of guards and they signed a couple," Jackson told Scout.com. "We just thought me going somewhere else would help [and] would be better for my future."

Jackson is the latest guard to have a change of heart. Prince Ali of Florida decommitted in May, although he has said he is still considering UConn.

Ollie and his staff now have three available scholarships for the Class of 2015. With UConn in the hunt for highly touted recruits, Jackson apparently saw less of an opportunity. Plus, he grew up near the Georgia campus.

"Here's a guess: When you win a national championship, you get about anybody you want," Athens Christian coach Ron Link told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "So UConn might've gotten a point guard just as good or better. [Jackson] keeps up with everything going on in recruiting.

"But he might've just had a change of heart and just wanted to go to Georgia because all of his friends told him they want to be able to see him play in person. As long as he's happy, that's the most important thing. He's the one who is going to be at college for four years, not all of his friends."

Guard Ryan Boatright, who will be a senior this season, will be gone by 2015, but Omar Calhoun, Rodney Purvis and Terrence Samuel could still be around. Incoming freshman Daniel Hamilton (swing man) and junior college transfer Sam Cassell Jr. will also vie for backcourt time.